As I am typing these words, the feeling of nervousness in writing is growing in my heart and mind. I tried my very best to keep a habit of writing one article per week in the first semester of college and I did it. However, in the second semester, a much heavier workload and even more traveling left so little time for myself. And so, I did not write anything new for more than four months. Right now, it is not as easy to articulate myself with words as it used to be.

This piece of writing marks my comeback to The Odyssey Online and my little Wordpress corner. I am going to tell you a story, not spectacular in any way, just an ordinary one, like how life always flows.

I liked the second semester (Spring semester) of my freshman year so much more than the first one, not because I did better academically (I did not, honestly), but that I love how many events happened and how I managed to stand strong regardless.

I started the Spring semester with a lot of traveling, mainly for hackathons (programing competitions). Soon, I will summarize my travel experience in various campuses, cities and states in upcoming writings. Being a computer science major, I am so grateful for the abundant opportunities to move around, learn more things and meet like-minded people. However, after a significant time moving around places quite frequently, I figure out it is a huge challenge to maintain a healthy state of mind and body if I do not give myself enough time to rest between trips. I love going places and being somewhere new always excites me. Yet, I never expected my body to be so exhausted and restless on the buses, cars, planes, at the airports, and even at the events themselves. And it happened. Taking hours-long bus rides and flying (with long layovers) every single weekend for more than a month was no joke. Tiredness replaced joy in no time. I wish I knew this earlier so that I could enjoy my traveling much better.

Dallas Greyhound Station. I think I took this at 2am.

Besides that, I worked a lot more in Spring. Luckily, my job has flexible working hours. So I can always choose to reduce my time at the office and increase it during weekend, especially when school work got busier last semester. Due to some personal reasons, I cannot take art/design/multimedia major, the thing I love, in college. Yet, my on-campus job allows me to reconnect to that passion. The world of shapes, colors and texts is so much more appealing to me than the technical aspects of computer science. I did not realize being a college yearbook editor could help me learn so much, not just about art, but also about ULM campus and the city of Monroe. I would never want to trade my current job for anything else, at least until I graduate.

Andrés at Sal Saloon. We tried to catch some off-campus performances for the yearbook.

People say freshmen courses are a piece of cake. I agree. They are way less challenging than future courses. However, maybe my major is a tough one, maybe I did not know how to manage my time well enough, school work in the second semester of freshmen year took a toll on me. And, I admit I was really stressed out, especially before any exam season. It was not fun watching my GPA drop after finals. However, the good thing about my college life at this stage is that Spring 2017 was just the second semester instead of the last. Well, it can be both good and bad from different perspectives. Yet, I've realized what the problems are and what I should do before things turn out worse. "There is always a second chance," quoted directly from one of my TAs.

This piece of writing will not be complete if I stop here. College life has tons of more exciting events than just traveling, working and studying. Although time for myself was really scarce last semester, whenever I could be on my own, I did a lot of contemplation and reflection. Those exercises for the mind proved to be very valuable, especially when I went through emotional fluctuations again and again. It is not easy at all to be quiet inside and really enjoy the moment. I learned that the hard way after my New Year week-long meditation retreat in NYC. Last semester, I got a lot more familiar with college life. I involved myself more with events going on around campus and the city of Monroe. Because of that, meeting new people and making new friends were inevitable. With gain came loss. I, for the thounsandth time, experienced whole process of falling in and out of different kinds of human connections. It was painful yet enriching, dreadful yet healing. At the end of the day, I'm grateful for those who choose to stay. For those crossing my life just for a while, thank you for everything and enjoy your next journeys.

Early sunshine through the window of Rockaway Meditation Center in NYC.

So, Spring semester was a blast. Patting my shoulder, I silently tell myself: "All is well."